“Eunhyuk’s what?” Kyuhyun asked incredulously.

Quite accurately, Sungmin walked in and nonchalantly joined in on his colleagues’ conversation. Although he hesitated before taking the empty seat next to Kyuhyun, he decided not to let his discomfort get the best of him and sat beside the man scrunching his eyebrows together anyway. Upon seeing the same concerned looks on both Kyuhyun and Leeteuk’s faces, he was quick to realize that something was wrong.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

So many disappointed sighs have escaped Leeteuk’s mouth before that Sungmin hardly even noticed anymore. “It’s Eunhyuk.”

“What has that dip got himself into this time?” Sungmin asked, not sounding the least bit surprised that one of his teammates has probably endangered himself of some sorts.

“The witness protection program.” He revealed, causing Sungmin’s eyebrows to fly up.

“What?” the blonde was expecting bad news, but he certainly wasn’t expecting that. “How the hell did that happen?”

“Apparently he witnessed a drug deal gone bad on his way home from work last night. Now the alleged drug dealer slash murderer is out to get him and Eunhyuk needs to stay down low.” He explained. “I insisted that we can keep him safe but they claimed that putting him under the witness protection program is the wiser choice. Of course, I purposely neglected to reveal the fact that we’re a company of assassins and that whoever comes after one of our men can be shot down easily in the blink of an eye. But as of now, Eunhyuk will be known as Jang Woohyuk and he’ll be staying under the cops’ eye at a log cabin out of town. We’re not allowed any contact with him since it can risk giving away his identity, but I’m pretty sure he’ll still find a way to communicate with us.”

“This is great,” Sungmin remarked with a heinous smile. “We finally found a way to rid of that bumbling idiot. Perfect.”

“Sungmin, this is serious. As his teammates, you two should kill this bastard before he kills Eunhyuk.” Leeteuk stated firmly.

“Forget it, Teuk. I don’t do favors for anyone.” Sungmin dismissed. He was just about ready to leave the table when a bony hand held onto his wrist and forced him back into his seat.

“Yah, Sungmin. Eunhyuk needs us.” Kyuhyun told him, causing the blonde to roll his eyes in disgust. “As much as I’d prefer to stay at home and watch a couple of dramas, believe me when I say you’ll miss that idiot while he’s gone.”

Seeing as Kyuhyun’s fingers were still wrapped around his wrist, he pulled away with a slight shiver. Even though it’s been almost a week since the encounter they shared on the elevator, Sungmin still hasn’t been able to look at Kyuhyun the same. Whenever he saw him now, he saw the man who practically his mouth with his tongue, leaving the taste of alcohol in his teeth.

“Somehow, I doubt that.” He said without meeting Kyuhyun’s eyes. “What do you suppose we do?”

“I say you two go on a stakeout.” Leeteuk suggested. “It’d be the perfect way to keep an eye on the guy and kill him when he least expects it.”

“Fine,” Sungmin agreed albeit begrudgingly. Still refusing to look at Kyuhyun, he merely pointed at him with his thumb. “But I’m not staying in the same car as him.”

“Nobody ever listens to me.”

Sungmin sulked as he sat in his car, right next to Kyuhyun who was mindlessly (and very noisily) chewing his stupid gum. Kyuhyun didn’t look very fazed by his grumpy companion’s remark, although he still found the need to annoy Sungmin with another one of his witticisms.

“That’s `cause you never give anyone a reason to.” He said in between chews. “Y’know, if you were a nicer person, then maybe people would actually take the time to listen to what you have to say.”

Sungmin, as usual, rolled his eyes. “Well, maybe I could’ve been a better person if I didn’t decide to become a professional assassin. But, you know what, I actually like my job. Yes, I like killing people and I like getting paid for it. The only thing I don’t like is the fact that I have to do it with you two. And now one of you has got himself into some deep and I have to—”

“Maybe the reason why no one listens to you is because you talk too ing much.” He interrupted with a gripe. “And you don’t really talk as much as you .”

“I’m only ing because you people keep giving me reasons to about.” He said quite snippily. “You know what? Just shut up and eat your gum.”

“You don’t eat gum, you chew it.” He corrected.

Kyuhyun’s apparently incessant wiseass-ness prompted Sungmin to repeatedly slam his forehead against the steering wheel, which only amused his partner even further. He, with a slick smirk across his lips, patted the blonde’s back, which made him flinch at the first touch.

“Don’t touch me,” he recoiled almost immediately. “Don’t. Ever. ing. Touch. Me. You understand?”

Kyuhyun stared at him strangely. “The hell’s your problem?”

“I just don’t like being touched. Especially by you. Okay?” No matter how hard Sungmin tried, he just couldn’t forget that moment in the elevator when he just let his guard down and let Kyuhyun own his body for a minute. Now, Sungmin couldn’t even step into the office elevator without encountering another hard problem in his pants.

“Okay, but if your gets into trouble and I’m the only one who can save you, I won’t lay a single hand on you.” He replied crossly.

Sungmin shut his eyes and shook his head. “Poor choice of words, Kyuhyun. Such a poor choice of words.”

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re weirder than I thought.”

“I think it’d be best if we just stopped talking.” He sighed. “Just keep your eye on the house, ara?”

“Fine,” he nodded and kept his gaze straight towards the house they were staking out. But after a minute or two, Kyuhyun couldn’t help but notice the awkward expression on Sungmin’s usually blank face.

He was almost afraid to ask. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking,” the blonde started with a sigh. “I can’t believe I actually miss Eunhyuk.”

“Sungmin?”

“I thought I told you not to talk?”

“It’s important.”

He groaned. “What is it?”

“Did I do something stupid last week?” he asked in a somewhat reluctant tone.

“Aren’t you always doing something stupid?” he answered half-jokingly.

“No, I mean when I got drunk.” His words made Sungmin’s eyes practically grow as wide as saucers. “Did I like, dance on the tables or puke in your car or something along those lines?”

“No…” he cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Nothing like that.”

“Oh,” Kyuhyun said, sounding quite relieved. “So I didn’t do anything stu—”

“Just shut the up and—and go to sleep or something.” He snapped, avoiding Kyuhyun’s eyes once again. “Read a book. Take a walk. Just do anything but talk to me.”

The tall boy glared at him as he popped his gum. “You’re mean.”

“Don’t I know it.” Sungmin rested his chin on his palm and stared out the window, partly to keep a close eye on the house but mostly to get Kyuhyun off his case.

A moment or so later, Sungmin’s ears perked up at the sound of someone snoring. He looked to his side and realized that Kyuhyun had fallen asleep, his gum slightly hanging out of his mouth. Sungmin sighed, decided that Kyuhyun was better off asleep anyhow. Unless he tries to pull the same stunt he did a week ago…

Sungmin jumped (and even squeaked a little) when Kyuhyun unknowingly tipped over, his head quite accurately landing on Sungmin’s shoulder. At this point, Sungmin was starting to sweat, despite the air conditioner being on full blast. Just as he was contemplating on what to do at the moment, his killer instinct suddenly came up when he spotted a figure lurking in the shadows.

“Kyuhyun, you jackass.” He whispered. “Wake up.”

He shrugged Kyuhyun off his shoulder, causing the boy to wake up dazed and most of all, confused.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I think he sees us.” He spoke in a hushed voice. “Kyuhyun, get your gun.”

“What if he’s not the guy?” he pointed out. “What if we kill an innocent man?”

“Does it matter?” Sungmin asked as he readied his weapon.

“Yes,” he stated. “If we kill the wrong guy, we’ll raise suspicions and then this drug dealer guy will be on to us. Use your head once in a while, will you?”

He muttered a curse under his breath. “Okay then, smartass, you got a better idea?”

A police officer in his mid-thirties took his rounds around the neighborhood, checking to see if anything out of ordinary should be checked out. Most of the time, there was nothing wrong around here, but one can never be too careful.

He received an anonymous tip earlier that a car had parked in front of their house this morning and has not moved ever since. He promised to check it out as soon as he could and apparently, that time was now, and fortunately for him, the car still had not moved.

As he arrived at the address given to him, sure enough, he found a suspicious-looking car parked next to a lamppost, right across the street indicated in the address. He went over to check it out until he heard voices, at which point he got his gun out and prepared for anything that was to come.

But what he saw in that car was by no doubt, the most shocking thing he has ever encountered in his entire career as a policeman. He pointed his flashlight towards the strange car, only to see two young men, one blonde and one brunet, faces.

He saw couples making out all the time, but they have always been a man and a woman. Never have they been two men. He didn’t know how to react. Should he make himself known and ask them to move? Or should he just give them their privacy?

Eventually, he decided the whole scenario was too weird and figured he was hallucinating, so he turned away, walked back to his car and drove off.

“He’s gone.” Kyuhyun pulled away though his hands stayed on Sungmin’s face.

Sungmin, who was still quite taken aback by what had just happened, stared at him in shock. He didn’t know how it happened but before he knew it, Kyuhyun had grabbed his face and planted his lips on his. Of course, he couldn’t do much but just stay there and reciprocate the kiss, albeit half-heartedly.

“What?” the skinny man asked upon realizing at how oddly Sungmin was looking at him.

“…You taste like peppermint.”

“How did everything go?” was the first thing that came out of Leeteuk’s mouth the minute Sungmin and Kyuhyun stepped back into his office empty-handed.

“Not well, obviously.” Sungmin replied grumpily. “The bastard didn’t leave the house at all. This whole stakeout thing was a bad idea.”

“Well, I think I know why this guy has been staying indoors.” He started. “He’s dead.”

“Oh, so Eunhyuk killed him already?” Kyuhyun asked.

Leeteuk snorted. “No, Eunhyuk’s not that good. This morning, he dropped dead of a heart attack. Just like that. Go figure.”

“So basically, all of our efforts were just for nothing?” Sungmin bit his lip to prevent himself from saying anything he might regret. “How do you know about this, Teuk?”

“The police phoned me a half hour ago and informed me about the whole thing.” He revealed. “Now they want us to come and pick Eunhyuk up at the police station. Are you guys up for it?”

Sungmin’s eyes practically bulged out of its sockets. “Excuse me?”

“Since you two were able to make it through an hour in the car on a stakeout together, I figured you can survive a short trip to the police station and back as well.” He shrugged with a knowing smile. “This isn’t a request, by the way. It’s an order.”

“Fine, but you’re paying me for this.” Sungmin pointed an accusing finger at the amused man.

“Yeah, me too.” Kyuhyun was quick to agree.

“Judging by the fact that neither of you are meeting each other’s eyes, I take it something happened during your little date together?” He teased.

“It wasn’t a date, it was a ing job.” Sungmin refuted immediately, his face turning red just as quickly. “Let’s just go already. The sooner we leave, the sooner it’s over.”

Sungmin fished his car keys out of his pocket as he walked out the door in a great huff. Kyuhyun sighed, glanced at Leeteuk with desperate eyes and then finally followed the blonde out.

The way the light bounced off Sungmin’s shiny, yellow hair made him look really cute, Kyuhyun thought. He thought about Sungmin a lot for some reason. He thought about how Sungmin would look much more attractive if he smiled more often. It was rare to see Sungmin actually smiling, and Kyuhyun was fortunate enough to see it every now and then. He also thought about how amusing it was that Sungmin always picked on Eunhyuk and how his gums showed when he smiled, when he himself had a gummy smile as well.

Sometimes he thought about what Sungmin would be like in bed. He liked to believe that he was rough and passionate, with lots of groping and heavy breathing involved. Sometimes, when Kyuhyun couldn’t sleep, he liked to imagine Sungmin on top of him, riding him with that hot, sticky, writhing body of his. At other times, he liked to close his eyes and picture it the other way around. He would be on top and Sungmin’s strong hands would be on either side of his hips as he kissed every inch of his sweaty skin.

“Well?” Sungmin’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Kyuhyun looked at him, subtly placed his hands over his crotch to hide the that was slowly building in his pants, and croaked out a reply. “Well what?”

“Aren’t you gonna get out?” he asked.

“What?” His response made Sungmin even more annoyed than he already was.

“We’re here, you jackass. Get out of the car and go get Eunhyuk.” He ordered. “Hurry up. I won’t wait forever.”

“Ming…”

“Sungmin.” He corrected.

“Okay, fine. Sungmin,” he started after rolling his eyes. “About that, uh…kiss we shared earlier. It was—”

“I told you never to bring it up again.” He groaned.

“I know, but—”

“That kiss never happened, Kyuhyun.”

“But, Sungmin—”

“Kyuhyun, I’m begging you, shut up.”

“Fine,” he crossed his arms across his chest and scowled. “I just wanted to say you—you kiss real good, okay?”

“What?” Sungmin couldn’t believe his ears.

“You’re not a bad kisser.” He finally spat it out. “Don’t make me say it again.”

Sungmin stared at him with much surprise painted on his pale face. As if some sort of force was preventing him from doing so, Sungmin couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes off the skinny boy beside him.

“What are you looking at?” Kyuhyun asked when he started to feel uncomfortable under Sungmin’s gaze.

“I, uh…” Sungmin cleared his throat and soon found himself pulling Kyuhyun’s chin towards him. Without even realizing it, he leaned in and softly pressed his lips against Kyuhyun’s. The feeling of his lips on his wasn’t foreign, but for some reason it made him feel nice and warm inside. It felt right, somehow.

“W-wow…” Kyuhyun said upon pulling away. “Sungm—”

Sungmin squeezed Kyuhyun’s lips together, dropping the obvious hint that the best thing for the boy to do right now was to keep his yap shut. Without a word, Sungmin let go of Kyuhyun’s mouth, unlocked the door and stepped out.

Kyuhyun, still in shock, managed to regain awareness after a brief moment. Realizing they still had to go and get Eunhyuk back, he got out of the vehicle as well and ran after Sungmin, who was already halfway through the entrance.

He watched as Sungmin asked a man in uniform for Eunhyuk and not long after, they were led to the lobby, where a lot of people were in, either in handcuffs or looking just plain miserable. Eunhyuk was part of the latter.

“Eunhyuk,” Sungmin approached him and gave him a hard pat on the back. “Thanks to you, I wasted a lot of time tonight, so you better make sure this was worth the effort.”

Eunhyuk stared at him in awe. “Wow.”

“What?” Sungmin’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“You actually called me ‘Eunhyuk’ instead of ‘dip’.” He grinned. “Does this mean I can start calling you ‘Sungmin’ instead of ‘sunbaenim’ now?”

Sungmin chuckled sarcastically before uttering a quick and simple, “No.”

Eunhyuk’s face fell, so he turned to Kyuhyun for support. But Kyuhyun was too busy staring at his feet to notice, or to even care.

“Kyuhyun?” he called.

“Hm?” he responded mindlessly.

“Something on your mind?” he asked with concern.

“Um,” he took a quick glimpse at Sungmin, whom was staring at him with a look that could kill. “Nah. Can’t say that I do.”

“Oh,” he nodded. “Well, then, did anything happen while I was gone?”

Sungmin and Kyuhyun exchanged nervous looks before inadvertently answering at the same time. “No!”

“What are you sulking about?”

Sungmin stared at Eunhyuk across the table as they waited for Leeteuk in the conference room. The blonde had sent Kyuhyun out to get coffee, partly because he needed something to keep him awake, but mostly because he couldn’t bear to look at Kyuhyun right now.

“I just think it’s unfair that Kyuhyun gets to call you by name and I don’t.” He admitted with a pout.

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Sungmin rubbed his temples in frustration. “If this is bothering you that much then fine, you can drop the formalities now.”

Eunhyuk’s face lit up. “Really?”

“You want me to take it back?” he threatened.

“No, no! This is great! After all these months, I can finally call you ‘Sungmin’ without fearing for my life.” He clapped in sheer joy. “Thanks, Sungmin.”

“Yeah, yeah…” he waved him off. “Something tells me I’m gonna regret doing this.”

After a moment or two, Leeteuk came in, holding a bunch of folders and a laptop case in his arms. He greeted the two with a smile, along with a small dimple by the corner of his mouth.

“Well, Eunhyuk, it’s great to have you back.” He said. “And by the way, Sungmin, some of the staff downstairs just informed me that for professional reasons, we have to record every detail of your and Kyuhyun’s stakeout earlier.”

“Why? Nothing even happened.” He protested.

“Maybe so but it was still a job so technically, we still need a fully-detailed report from you.” He explained. “I need it first thing tomorrow morning. You got it?”

“Fully-detailed?” Sungmin slumped in his seat with the most devastated look on his face. All that was missing was a rainy cloud hovering over him as the earth gaped and swallowed him up.

God, please kill me now.